White Volunteer Firefighter Murdered by Black Co-Worker

Daily Freeman
February 6, 2014

A 33-year-old Olivebridge man was fatally shot Monday morning at the New York City Department of Environmental Protection office on Smith Avenue in Midtown Kingston, and a co-worker was charged with murder, according to the Kingston Police Department and Ulster County District Attorney’s Office.

Police said David N. Reese, 53, of Gilboa, Schoharie County, was taken into custody at the DEP building after shortly after Aron J. Thomas was shot and that Reese was charged with second-degree murder. He pleaded “not guilty” during a brief arraignment Monday afternoon in Kingston City Court and was sent to the Ulster County Jail without bail.

Authorities did not offer a motive for the killing.

District Attorney Holley Carnright said both the gunman and victim were employees of the Department of Environmental Protection. He said the weapon used was a handgun, though he did not say if it was legally owned.

Police said a handgun, believed to have been used in the crime, was recovered at the scene.

The police department said officers were dispatched to the DEP building, at 71 Smith Ave., about 6:45 a.m. and “found one victim … deceased as a result of a gunshot wound.” A “person of interest” was taken into custody at the scene, police said.

Carnright said Reese was formally charged about 3 p.m. His arraignment, though scheduled for 5 p.m. in City Court, was held earlier, before most of the reporters covering the story arrived.

Police said Reese and Thomas worked in the same part of the DEP building. Thomas also was a volunteer firefighter and emergency medical technician in the town of Olive, where he lived.

“We all knew him. It’s a small town. He was a lovely, very fine young man,” Olive Supervisor Sylvia Rozzelle said of Thomas. “I gave him his hunting licenses and his fishing licenses. He was always a pleasure to deal with.

“We lost a good one,” said Rozzelle, who until recently was the Olive town clerk. “It’s very tragic.”

Rozzelle said Thomas had at least one small child.

Kingston Police Chief Egidio Tinti told MidHudsonNews.com that the shooting occurred inside the DEP building, which is at the corner of Smith Avenue and Grand Street. Tinti said the victim was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead there. There were no other injuries, authorities said.

The DEP building, near Kingston’s main post office, houses more than 100 people who work for the department that oversees New York City’s upstate reservoirs. The building formerly housed computer parts manufacturer National Micronetics.

DEP spokesman Adam Bosch said Thomas was a watershed maintainer and had worked for the city department for nearly nine years. Watershed maintainers are responsible for maintaining facilities and the grounds around the city’s upstate reservoirs and aqueducts, along with other infrastructure across the watershed, Bosch said.

Reese has been employed by the DEP since 1998 as a mechanical and electrical technician, Bosch said. People in that job generally work on such things as instrumentation, and ventilation, the spokesman said.

In a statement emailed to the media, DEP Commissioner Carter Strickland said: “We are shocked and saddened by the senseless act of violence that occurred early this morning at DEP’s offices in Kingston, N.Y. The thoughts and prayers of all DEP employees are with the victim’s family and loved ones. We will do all we can to support them in the days and months ahead. DEP is fully cooperating with local authorities in their ongoing investigation. Grief counselors will be made available to help DEP employees who have been affected by this tragedy.”

The Kingston DEP building was evacuated and shut down for the day after the shooting. Some employees were seen hugging each other outside after leaving.